They get to hear the cooks backstory, watch them cook, see special ingredients. Some of the judges already know some of the cooks. If you love Alice and you watched her over cook that lamb, but you keep her because of some bullshyt reason like you want to see how she does in the next round

. You hate Todd but his plate was the best but you dismiss him anyway. They shouldn't know who makes what or they shouldn't get to hear their sob stories. A cook using an ingredient you don't like shouldn't be grounds for dismissal. A cook missing a basket ingredient shouldn't advance over another cook who used lemon or onions and you hate onions
Then when it comes to the final round, dessert, they factor in the previous two rounds

to determine the winner


Don't get me started, I grew to hate that show after watching it religiously